by Nan Sweet
Chapter 19
Monday came all too quickly and soon Ivy was back in class. Ivy asked her mom to drop her off early so that she could talk to Mrs. Huffity. A balding man with huge glasses and a bookish appearance sat at her desk. He leaned over the desk reading an ancient hard cover book. At least it looked ancient to Ivy.
“Where's Mrs. Huffity?”
Startled, the man straightened. “Family leave. She'll be back in a few days.”
“Did she say what was wrong?” Ivy asked.
His hand on the spot of the book where he was reading, the new teacher looked more interested in finishing the current chapter than in whether a little dragon had survived her first molting. Scratching his head in that spot where he actually had hair, somewhere between his ear and the top of his head, he said, “I don't pry. Now run along. Class doesn't actually start for a half-hour.”
Ivy unpacked her books before heading outside to sit on the swings and watch for Carrie. The air smelled like frost and wood smoke, and she shivered in the biting cold and waited. Carrie's mom drove up just as the first bell rang. Ivy ran to meet Carrie on the sidewalk.
“You'll never guess. Mrs. Huffity is out today. Family emergency.” Ivy grinned, “So are you grounded?”
“No. They didn't even ask where I was. Thanksgiving was so weird. My dad ate dinner with us, and they laughed like nothing had happened.”
“That's great! I'm so happy for you.” Ivy grabbed her friend’s arm and squeezed.
“Don't be. On Saturday they had the biggest fight yet, about a stupid television that sits in the garage. Dad wanted to take it.”
“Oh. That stinks.”
Carrie bumped the door to the school open a little harder than she needed to. “They didn't even mention that we left. Not once. It's like they didn't even care that I was gone.”
“They cared. Maybe they were trying to make Thanksgiving nice for you.”
Carrie shook her hair back and shrugged, “Maybe they should have tried a little harder.”
Ivy followed Carrie into the classroom, “What about Mrs. Huffity?”
“Maybe she just wanted more time with Sparky.” Carrie slid into her seat just as the second bell rang. The substitute wasted no time. While Ivy was outside talking to Carrie, he had written Professor Sheridan on the board.
“Good Morning, Class.” He said in that loud voice assembly speakers used when they tried to get kids excited at 8:30 in the morning before anyone should reasonably be excited about anything, except missing class.
Carrie looked over her shoulder at Ivy and whispered in a rather loud voice, “It's way too early for this.”
From across the room, Professor Sheridan's rather unwieldy eyebrows knit together furiously and in an equally booming voice said, “What's your name?”
The students had names on the front of their desks. Rather than point that out, she shrugged and said, “Carrie.”
“And what exactly did you to say to your friend?”
Carrie could feel the heat warming her cheeks, all the way up to her ears. She hated being called out. “Um...I said that it's too early for this.”
Tilting his head, the professor crossed his arms. “Too early for what exactly.”
“For you to be expecting us to say Good Morning. You'll say Good Morning class and we'll say Good Morning. And you'll say I can't hear you even though we know full well that you can. But you want us to be loud and excited until you want us to be quiet. And seriously most speakers use that bit. It's way overdone. And I'm tired, and I don't really want to say Good Morning loud. I don't really know you, and Mrs. Huffity was supposed to start our winter garden today.” Carrie took a deep breath and looked somewhat surprised at her own courage before settling back into her seat.
“Go to the principal's office.”
Ivy raised her hand, “Mr. Sheridan,”
But he didn't listen. He said, “And while you're at it, take your friend with the glasses with you.” Ivy was wearing her backup glasses.
Carrie's eyes widened at the addition of Ivy. That was unfairness in epic proportions. Putting on her best regal princess smile, she nodded once, “I think we shall.”
Ivy's mouth hung open and she looked a bit like the time Carrie popped four marshmallows into her mouth all at once just to see if she could. Ivy was more than a little annoyed that she was only known for wearing glasses. That was totally uncalled for.
Carrie could see Ivy was about to say something. She whispered, “Come on. We'll go to the office. Grab your coat.”
With a glare at Professor Sheridan, Carrie followed Ivy into the hall. Grabbing her elbow Carrie said, “It's time to use the secret portal magic and go back.”
“We're supposed to be going to the principal's office.” Ivy said.
“Yeah, but we didn't do anything wrong. You're going to be in trouble anyway when the school calls your parents. And I want to see Sparky.” Carrie pulled the bracelet from her jeans’ pocket and put it on, grabbing Ivy's hand.
The stones in the bracelet seemed to sparkle in the fluorescent lights. Ivy protested, but Carrie had already activated the portal, and the giant trophy case filled with pottery from the second grade class vanished. “But I don't...”
“want to go back.” And suddenly they were in a large obsidian cavern listening to the sound of an animal scream that went further than their ears. Somehow, the sound was in their brain.
Putting her hands over her ears, Carrie said, “Where is this?”
Ivy took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. The screams hurt her heart and she couldn't help but cry.
